Hyderabad, Aug 18 (IANS): The YSR Congress Thursday termed as "political vendetta" the searches by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at the homes and other properties of its chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy.

Reacting sharply to the searches, the fledgling party warned that the Congress would have to pay a heavy price for the witch-hunt.

The CBI Thursday began searches after a special court gave it the nod to launch a full-fledged probe into Jagan's alleged illegal assets.

Legislator Shoba Nagi Reddy told reporters outside Jaganmohan Reddy's residence that he was being targeted for leaving the Congress party.

Jagan, as the son of late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy is popularly known, quit the Congress party in November last year as he was being sidelined following the death of his father in a helicopter crash in 2009.

The young leader floated the YSR Congress party and was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from Kadapa with a massive majority in the by-elections in May this year.

"People of the state are watching as to how Congress is treating the family of the great leader who brought the party to power. They will give a befitting reply as they did in Kadapa," Shoba said.

Another leader, Gattu Ramchandra Rao, said Jagan was being harassed for leaving the Congress. "Rosaiah got a clean chit because he is in the Congress and Jagan is being targeted as he quit the party," he said.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) recently gave a clean chit to former chief minister K. Rosaiah in a land case.

"When the government can arrest Anna Hazare and lodge him in Tihar Jail, it can't be unexpected," said Ramchandra Reddy when asked if he feared Jagan's arrest.

Another leader, Ambati Rambabu said the cases filed against Jagan in the high court were politically motivated. He wondered how the court could order a probe on the basis of a letter by a minister. "If the same yardstick is applied, a CBI probe has to be ordered against every top politician," he said.

The high court also permitted CBI to conduct searches in another case relating to alleged irregularities by Dubai-based realty major Emaar in building a township in Hyderabad.